The Spirit of Terrorism and Other essays, Jean Baudrillard (2001)

As a philosopher of the postmodern condition it is difficult to pin Baudrillard down to a simple thesis. But these essays, all written soon after 9/11, are rich and tangible enough for a solid nod of agreement from time to time. The symbolic power vs. the material power of this terrorist event is now widely understood.. he saw it right away. The identifiable antagonists in broad conflicts of any consequence- say “America” vs. ‘Islamist militants” are the symptoms of the problem. Triumphant globalization is the condition that produces its very own demons.. suicidal demons with a Freudian death drive. Signs, signified, simulations, simulacrum (his own word?) in these terms, he describes, the fall of the towers, the suicide of the towers.. the vulnerable condition of globalist, but not universalist, dominance. Too many people getting pushed around.

All that is Solid Melts into Air

“To be modern is to find ourselves in an environment that promises us adventure, power, joy, growth, transformation of ourselves and the world—and, at the same time, that threatens to destroy everything we have, everything we know, everything we are.”
Marshall Berman (1982)